Example sentences of "can [adv] have [been] [art] [adj] " in BNC.
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| 1 | But even at this date the alteration in emphasis can only have been a conscious attempt to attune to the wider audience , if still at that time mainly within Bavaria , which was beginning to show interest in Hitler in 1923 , and an awareness that anti-Marxism had a wider potential appeal than the mere repetition of anti-Jewish paroxysms of hate . |
| 2 | She recovered — though the royal nursery in Linlithgow can hardly have been a peaceful place , with its occupant combining convalescence with the more normal infant problem of teething ; but she was entirely well by the time Sadler saw her again , in early August . |
| 3 | The incident can hardly have been a minor affair . |
| 4 | When there were contractors to be handed out directors may have tried to help one another , but that can hardly have been a sufficient reason for buying up large blocks of shares . |
| 5 | Given the state of the war , the undeniable growth of anti-Nazi feeling , and the rising criticism of Hitler himself , which we have been able to document for the years 1942–4 , such reports can hardly have been an accurate reflection of existing attitudes . |
| 6 | Though there may have been some hostility between the victuallers and the non-victuallers , this can hardly have been the only factor involved . |
| 7 | This can hardly have been the enlightening effect of reason and liberty since in France the outcome of the same ideals was the triumph of the guillotine . |
| 8 | Although the rebels ' demands for personal freedom are conspicuous in the chronicles , this can hardly have been the main motive of the Kentishmen , one of the most prominent groups among the peasants , because in Kent there was no serfdom . |